


Lost boys

by Featherly



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alfred is mad at them, Bruce is dead, Homelessness, Job quitting, Struggling babies, all they have is each other, finding hope, homeless, losing hope
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-24
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2018-09-01 21:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8638348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Featherly/pseuds/Featherly
Summary: Alfred decided over a year ago he wouldn't forgive Dick or Jason, and this doesn't change when they turn up on his doorstep with no place to go.





	1. Chapter 1

“That'll be sixteen-fifty” said the monotonous drawl with Richard on his name tag. 

“It should be twelve fifty” replied a skinny middle aged woman with short greying hair and an angry scowl on her face.

“One sec, I'll just add it up again, and yeah. It’s sixteen fifty.” 

“Well last time I came in it was twelve fifty!” 

“The prices went up three weeks ago. You must have an old menu.” 

“Well I didn’t know that... I want to speak to the manager.”

“Yes mam. One moment please.”

Dick whipped around and walked over to his boss, a 29 year old woman named helen who had served the owners for over ten years.

“That lady wants to speak to you.” said Dick with no indication of who he meant. Helen made an annoyed sound and approached the woman in question with a smile on her face.

“Hello” said Helen, and the customer went straight into it.

“When I ordered on the phone noone told me the price so I assumed it was still twelve fifty so I brought exactly twelve fifty.” 

“Dick, just charge the $12.50.” said Helen before returning to making pizza. 

“I’ll pay when I get it.” said the woman before leaving, no doubt to break the fifty dollar note he saw in her wallet before the entire ordeal began.

Dick continued serving the line of people almost out the door, as if he were the only one in the place.

 

Two of his coworkers answered phones for delivery and pre orders, the three oldest made the pizza or pastas, and one coworker screwed around getting payed to do nothing. He was pathetic, so the boss kept him. His name was Ed, and he claims he was kicked out of his home, but everyone but Helen and the chef know that he left of his own accord.

So Dick was left racing through the many people waiting to be served alone. Ed was probably washing dishes as an excuse to kiss the chef’s ass. So people waited longer and got more frustrated, and when they finally reached Dick, they were cranky and not afraid to show it.

“About time.” said the second to last man. He had a long beard and frightening eyes. He made Dick uncomfortable, but he did his job. He took the man’s order, took his payments, and put the order on the silver spike next to the register.

When there were no people waiting to order, Dick refilled the food stocks and answered phones. There was never nothing to do, so he didn’t notice when the man who frightened him didn’t seem to move for almost half an hour.

He answered a now ringing phone with the unchanging script “Pizza boys Gotham, how may I serve you?”

A man replied with obvious agitation. “I made an order over an hour ago, and it still isn't here.” 

“Yep. What was the address?”

He got the address and asked Helen. “Check the ovens.” she replied.

He found the order sitting on top of the ovens, meaning no, it hadn’t left yet.

“What should I tell him?” Dick asked Helen.

“Say it has left and should be there in around 10 minutes.” helen didn’t even look up when she said it.

Dick recounted the information to the man on the phone with an apology, and the man hung up with a “right.” 

Things went on as usual with a lot of Dick running his hand through his hair as an old habit to repress the stress he had growing as the night went on. 

20 minutes after he got off the phone to the man whose food hadnt left yet, he answered the phone again with the usual words.

“Uh, yes. I called before because the damn pizza wasn’t here, and now, after an HOUR AND A HALF, its the wrong fucking pizza. Now I have been going there for years, and this has happened too often.”

“Yes sir, what was the address again please?” 

He got the address and looked through the spiked papers next to the phones, designated for deliveries alone. He found the address and looked it over. It was his own handwriting, and the wrong pizza was written down. He looked over the rest of the order, and realised he had also forgotten to ask them which drink they wanted in the deal.

“Yes I have the order here, and the wrong thing was written down. We'll have another one out to you in--” 

“This is a fucking joke. I’ve been going there for 5 years, and I expected better.” Dick could hear someone yelling in the background, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!?” asked the man to whoever was speaking. Then to Dick; “My wife just found a fucking hair in the cheese pizza. This is rediculous.”

Dick was become more flustered and panicked. “Ummm what colour is the hair.” 

“It’s black.” 

Dick looked around at his brunette and blonde coworkers. 

The woman who got the discount had returned with her pizza and was waiting at the counter. The lazy coworker served her, and discovered another incorrect order with Dick’s handwriting on it.

“Dick, this half is wrong.” 

The man who made Dick uncomfortable was being served by another girl who looked through the orders on the spike and found, again, Dick’s handwriting. 

Helen took both orders and glared at Dick. All eyes in the room seemed to be on him. 

“let me speak to your manager.” said the man on the phone with an arrogant tone. 

“Is this a pathetic joke from that fucking idiot?” asked the woman with greying hair, indicating Dick.

“This is unacceptable. 45 minutes of waiting and theres nothing coming.” 

Dick felt a line in his head pulse. He took the papers from Helen and passed the phone. “I’m done.” said Dick before ripping up both pieces of paper in his hands. He threw the pieces like confetti and walked out without another glance. He threw the plastic drapes at the entrance and didn’t look back as he went. 

It was a Friday and he had 3 days of work pay he didn’t care about. It didn’t matter. He didn’t even earn minimum wage.

Dick walked all the way to his apartment in a heated rage, but felt terrible for not getting his little money when he came to his front door.

He opened it to find Jason sleeping on the moth eaten couch, but he woke up when Dick locked the door again. 

“You’re back so early.” said a 14 year old Jason, rubbing the sleep from his tired eyes with the heel of his hand.

“Yeah. I... I kinda quit” Dick admitted with difficulty. 

“Oh... Well you’ll find a new job. And im almost old enough to get a job too.” said Jason with hope.

“I don’t know what we’ll do for rent at the end of this week. I didn’t get my pay.”

“Youcould collect it tomorrow when you take back your uniform?”

“It still won’t be enough.” 

“We can ask for an extension?”

“Still need to pay off the extension from last month.”

“... We could ask the banks to use that account?” 

“we can’t unless the right forms are signed by a guardian over 18.”

“Maybe Bruce forsee this kinda thing and signed them and now they're hiding somewhere?”

“The house was searched and we searched the lair. The forms arent anywhere.”

“But he thought about everything to do with the future... He had to have signed them.”

“Bruce thought he would live forever. There aren’t any forms for anything after his death, not even a will. That’s why we have nothing from his life.”

Jason’s eyes began to water, but he quickly wiped any tears on his sleeve. “I’m going to bed.”

“Sure. Whatever.”

Jason walked towards their shared bedroom and stopped at the door. “Maybe Alfred will forgive us one day?” 

“He wont.” 

“... But maybe Bruce--”

“BRUCE IS DEAD. GONE. VAMOOSE. NEVER COMING BACK. This is our life now Jason. And im doing the best I can. This... This is us now.”

Jason slammed the door behind him, and though neither of them talked about it the next day, they could hear each other crying.


	2. Chapter 2

They packed what they could silently, not that it took very long at all. They didn’t have much any more. They hadn’t slept well over the past few days, or moreso worse than they had since Bruce died.

They were given three days to be gone at the end of the week, and it was now three days after the end of the week. They waited for the last minute, because they had nowhere else to go. At exactly one oclock, dick locked the door for the last time and left. He had already given the key to the house back. When they left the house for the last time, it had already been raining for hours.

The boys roamed for a while, not knowing exactly where they were going, but not walking aimlessly either. Both kinda knew where they wanted to go, since they didn’t have anywhere else to go.

Jason had no relatives, and Dick’s only living uncle was a paraplegic in a home somewhere. Their adoptive father was dead, and his butler was the only one they could possibly turn to, so that’s where they went.

Alfred now lived in a tiny house with no debt. His own bank account was still fairly large, and he was set for the rest of his life. 

The pair approached the front door of this tiny house and stood in front of the oak door which seemed much too large and heavy for the rest of the house. Dick raised his soaked fist to it, ready to knock. His hand was brought down, but stopped just before he hit it even once. 

Dick knew he had failed Alfred more than he had failed the customers at his pizza job, because he lost more than a few dollars to some scammy pizza joint; He lost the closest thing he would ever get to a son. And that was all Dick and Jason’s fault.

“We can’t.”said Dick, his hand hovering over the wood. Jason looked at him, then at his feet. 

“Let’s go then.”

“yeah.” replied Dick, now looking at his feet too. Jason turned and jumped down the single step, and Dick swung his case as he turned. There was a thump of the case hitting the oak, and the two boy’s hearts skipped a beat. Their heads shot up to the door, twin looks of shock and fear plastered on their dripping faces.

Maybe Alfred didn’t hear...

Part of them hoped he didn’t, but a stronger part hoped he did. 

They stood there staring for around twenty seconds before the door handle finally turned.

“Bit late to try selling me---” Alfred stopped whatever he was going to say at the sight before him; The two boys he told he never wanted to see again standing before him holding their own cases, the only things they could get their hands on before everything Bruce owned was sold. Pathetic, tired, soaked faces and dripping hair, shining blue eyes that made people thing they really were brothers.

“Alfred... Please help.”

“I told... I told you...” Their faces were so devoid of hope, he wanted to forgive them. “I told you I never wanted to see you again. Good day!” and with that he slammed the door.

He began walking away but halted when he heard a sound he had never heard before, not even at Bruce’s funeral: one of them was crying.

He looked through the small window near the door, and saw Dick comforting a hysterical Jason. Alfred’s heart broke, until he remembered what they had done to Bruce and his heart became stone again. Let him cry, thought Alfred, it wont change anything.

But not even ten minutes later both boys were huddled on the couch together, wrapped in about twenty towels, so close to falling asleep. 

“You can stay one night, but then you’re back out there.” said Alfred from behind them.

The boys said nothing. Maybe they didn’t hear him? He coughed and spoke louder. “I said you can stay one night, but then you’re back out there.” They continued to ignore him. 

Alfred walked around to be in front of them, and saw that they had in fact already fallen asleep, each lying in an opposite direction using the arms of the couch as pillows. Alfred’s couch was soaked, and it was only two in the afternoon and much too early to be sleeping, but he allowed them their peace. If Alfred was honest with himself, it was actually quite pleasent to finally have company again after a whole year.

He sat in his chair and continued to read as he had been before their interruption, occasionally looking over at the boys whenever they made a noise in their sleep.

Hours passed like minutes, and around 6 oclock, Alfred woke the boys to set the table. They did so in a tired haze, and then sat down to eat. Jason stuffed his face as if he hadn’t eaten since Alfred last served him, whereas Dick hardly touched anything. Alfred didn’t pry into this, he didn’t really care at the moment if he ate everything or nothing.

“As I said just after you intruded into my house, you can stay here tonight, but then you’re back out there.” 

Jason stopped his fork just before his mouth before placing it down on the plate in front of him. Alfred noticed, but said nothing.

Alfred was the only one eating for the rest if the meal.

Seven oclock came and went, as did eight oclock and nine oclock. Alfred had cleared the table right after his meal, but Dick and Jason hadn’t moved in all that time.

Dick was staring into his closed hands, but Jason was fidgiting, as if trying to gain the courage to say something.

Finally, at nine thirty, Alfred declared he was going to bed, and that they could stay for breakfast, but that was it, and Jason finally jumped up and spoke.

“Alfred, wait!”

Alfred stopped and looked at Jason.

“Those forms, you can sign them right? We really need the money, and... And you’re the only one who can get do it for us.”

Alfred shook his head. “I am not your parent, and I was never your guardian.”

He left without another look at either of the boys, and Jason stared at the place where he had stood, completely lost for words. Soon enough, he retook his seat at the table and put his head in his crossed arms.

Minutes passed in silence with Jason staring at the table and Dick staring at Jason. 

Dick decided to say something, but Jason beat him to it.

“I thought there was a chance he would forgive us.” His voice was small and fragile.

“No chance that’s going to happen.” said Dick with an unwavering tone. “We’re lucky he even let us into his home.”

“Yeah... What are we going to do?” asked Jason as it began to rain outside again.

“...I don’t know. No way we’re going into the foster system, and shelters are too public. We could steal, but then we risk seperation if the cops get us.   
I’ll just have to take the first job I can find.” 

“Even prostitution?” asked Jason with a dumb look on his face.

“Oh, definitely. They will call me ‘Big Dick’, the man who lives up to his name.”

“You can charge double for men!”

“And triple for ugly women!”

“And quadruple for ugly men!”

“Does that mean you have to pay me eight times my price?”

Both boys finally laughed after so long, were finally able to make a joke without the tension or outbursts caused by stress. It was a beautiful sound, but they had to stop when they remembered where they were; in a room next to a trying to sleep, angry Alfred who would surely have their heads if they continued. It was as if the happiness was suddenly sucked out of the room.

Alfred lay in his bed wishing they would continue the first sound of genuine joy he had heard in over a year.

Jason looked at Dick with a hopeless look. “We should find a place to crash.”

“You can have the couch.”

“Where would you sleep?”

“On that comfy looking rug.”

“It’s okay... I can stay here.” said Jason, putting his head back on his arms.

“You sure?”

“Definitely.” his eyes were closing now, and if Dick said anything else, he didn’t hear it.


	3. Chapter 3

Jason was in the kitchen browsing the contents of the refrigerator, eyeing off a delicious cake. Sure it was Alfreds, but he knew the old man wouldn’t mind.

He took out the entire cake and sat down with it in front of him. He ate it with his bare hands, grabbing chunks and stuffing his face. He didn’t stop when Alfred and Dick appeared on either side of him.

“Eat every bit of it Jason. You’ve earned it!” said Alfred.

“Yeah Jaybird.” said Dick as he kissed Jason on the forehead. Jason swatted at him like a fly.

“You boys can stay here for as long as you like!” said Alred. ‘That must be where this cake came from’, thought Jason. ‘As celebration for our homecoming.’

Jason ate the last pieces of the cake and stood up to be congratulated, his arms outstretched on either side of him, his cheeks still filled with cake that made him look like a chipmunk. He took a bow while Alfred, Dick and Bruce applauded him, but Alfred and Dick’s claps soon stopped. Bruce was the only one near him now. Dick and Alfred had disappeared into thin air.

Jason stared at him, his heartrate increasing, his eyes welling up with tears. 

“Yes. Congratulations.” said Bruce, a malicious look on his face.

Jason’s eyes were drawn down, down to the hole in Bruce’s abdomen, down to the blood stained suit Bruce was buried in over a year before. “I’m sorry.” said Jason, half of his face wet from his now unstoppable tears. “I’m Sorry!” he yelled. “I’m sorry!” he repeated this over and over, until Dick started talking again from afar. “Jason, hey Jason.” The older boy was rocking his shoulder. “Jaaay-suun” and with that Jason finally opened his eyes and woke up with his head still firmly planted on Alfred’s table, a pool of drool covering half of his face.

“Sorry, but you were talking in your sleep, and I think you could have woken Alfred up, which would suck because I think he’s gonna kick us out the second he gets up.” 

Jason nodded at his older brother and stood up. He Immediately sat down again due to the intense, sharp pain that shot down his spine, an affect from his position in the night.

“I don’t think Alfred would appreciate it if we ate his food, so we will have to make a stop at some store the second we leave.” said Dick, looking around at the kitchen decor.

“We could just slip out now.” mumbled Jason with one hand on his back, the other on his starved, pained stomach.

“Not now. It’s raining pretty hard.”

Jason listened and heard that yes, the rain was coming down fast and hard. How could he have not noticed it?

“Rain feels pretty good.” slurred Jason, trading the hand on his back to his forehead.

“You feeling alright Jay?”

“No. No I think im gonna be sick” and sure enough, just moments later, Jason was huddled over Alfred’s toilet, hurling up what litttle food he had eaten the previous day. Dick sat next to him, holding back the younger’s hair.

“Let it all out bud.” whispered Dick. 

Jason moaned long and deep. “Don wann leave soon.” 

“Me neither jay.”

Both boys started at the knock on the bathroom door.

“Hate to rush you, but this IS the only bathroom in this house” came Alfred’s voice.

Dick unlocked the door, leaving Jason to continue throwing up on his lonesome.

“Sorry Al. Jason’s not feeling so hot.” 

Jason let out a louder moan, and changed his position so he was sitting on the side of his legs, and not sitting on his feet.

“Well... Theres a bucket in the laundry. Be a dear, Richard?” 

Dick ran off to grab the bucket, and Alfred stared at the youngster kneeling over his toilet. His eyes had become sunken, his face pale, his breathing hard. He wasn’t feigning sickness.

Dick returned with a green bucket which he passed to Jason, and the pair left the bathroom to return to the couch.

Jason half sat up on the arm of the couch with his head over the bucket, and within the minute he was throwing up into that too.

Alfred returned to them after a few minutes that felt like an eternity. He put a hand on Jason’s forehead without a word, and then left the house.

Dick was at a loss of what to do. Did Alfred expect them to be gone by the time he got back? Or were they meant to stay there...

Looking at poor Jason, Dick decided that yes, they should stay there, whether Alfred wanted them to or not.

An hour passed, and then another hour. Dick was beginning to get worried, but didn’t let it show in front of Jason, even though he was already asleep again, the half filled bucket hugged to his chest.

The bucket began to shift, but Dick caught it before a disgusting drop could hit the ground. He rinsed out the putrid stench, dried it with a filthy towel and returned it to Jason, though by his side and not in his arms this time.

Dick sat at the other end of the couch a moment, but decided they had been in the dark long enough. 

He walked around Alfred’s home finding it peculiar how he had no photos up at all. Upon a second inspection of the rooms he had already been in, he discovered a complete absense of any mirrors too. He moved around the house being cautious to leave no trace of what could be deemed his misbehaviour. He wasn’t too sure what he was looking for, but he felt like he would know once he saw it.

Keeping this in mind Dick still went into the older man’s room, but not before memorising the exact angle the door was to either wall and taking caution to step into the very slight indentations Alfred made over the past year in the places he always stepped into in his routine life.

Dick kept an ear out for any change in his surroundings as he looked through Alfred’s things, searching desperately for anything, ANYTHING from their previous life.

There was nothing hiding in his new clothes, nothing in the small drawers under his small desk. Only a note hiding in his bedside table drawers, and certainly nothing sinister in his underwear draw. Dick was frustrated and completely void of heart. Why was there nothing to remind Alfred of Bruce, nothing to show that he could forgive them, but nothing to show that he wouldn’t either.

Dick sat on Alfred’s bed in a huff, but jumped back up immediately at the sound of glass breaking underneath him, and the unmistakable feeling of something solid underneath him collapsing inwards. Startled, Dick moved the covers off the bed to find the only photo he had found in the entire house. Dick recognised the image and its context immediately.

It was from the month after Jason came into their lives for good, when he had just learned of their nightly activities. He was eager to learn, and Bruce was almost ready to teach him. But this picture had nothing to do with Batman and Robin. 

That day, more than a year ago, Dick was mortified by how unaverage Jason’s childhood life had been. He had never gone rock climbing, had never gone bowling, and had never been to the circus! Dick decided that they had to take him then and there, and Jason, Alfred, and Bruce reluctantly agreed after some convincing.

They had an incredible night. The front row seats made it so they missed nothing, and forced them into being a part of the event themselves. This picture showed the moment three elephants started jabbing Jason in the face while he laughed, Bruce with a hand on Jason’s shoulder with his face red from laughing so hard. Dick was choking on a peanut at the moment but pointed all the same. Alfred had taken the picture in a selfie style, his old head mostly unseen, but his eyes and mouth in clear view also laughing like nothing could ever go wrong.

Dick had completely forgotten about this photo. He looked at it, and the smile on his face became so large. A lump formed in his throat creating a choked up noise whenever he exhaled. He lay back on Alfred’s bed, so overcome with emotion that he completely forgot where he was. He arched his back and hugged the picture to his chest, shards of glass digging into his chest but he refused to let go.

The smile turned into a grimmace as Dick hugged the photo, the last photo of Bruce he had seen since he was alive. Tears shot out of his eyes, and he couldn’t stop crying even if he wanted to.


	4. Chapter 4

Dick didn't really know what to do with the glass shards. He threw them into the bin and replaced the photo where he found it. He decided that they weren’t staying for much longer and it didn’t matter if Alfred found out since they would be long gone when he did.

Dick left Alfred’s room similar to how he had entered it, with the exception of the photo of course. The tears had dried up, his skin had thickened, and he needed to find out their next move. He wanted them gone before Alfred returned, which of course was difficult with a sick Jason.

Jason was a street kid for most of his life. He should know what to do.

Dick slapped Jason on the shoulder, willing him to wake up. He did so with anger, glaring at Dick as a way of demanding an explanation.

“I want us out soon” said Dick.

“We could, but we would have to stop every few minutes for me to be sick.” Jason still looked positively green, but Dick was desperate.

“We aren’t welcome here. We knew we wouldn’t be, but we still came here. It was dumb, and we have to go.” 

Jason sat up, his legs apart and his eyes glued to the floor. “Yeah. I know... Can I take the bucket at least?”

“Sure” said Dick with a malicious tone, “Not like he can’t afford another one.”

Jason took the bucket and they left as quickly as they could. They had very few posessions, only the basics, and they were out within four minutes. They took caution to lock the door on the way out, (It was still Gotham after all,) and walked as fast as they could to nowhere, hoping none of the cars which drove past belonged to Alfred Pennyworth.

~~~

 

The day left quickly, and Jason had already filled the bucket. He decided to just throw it out and throw up directly into the bins. They found their way to Jason’s old spot, an alleyway between two small apartment buildings. They gathered some boxes and built themselves a small privacy spot in a space noone wanted because the smell was worse there than anywhere else.

Sharing the alley were 5 other men and one woman who didn’t seem to know where, or whom she was. Only two people spoke to the two kids who had entered the alley. The first was the woman who spoke in gibberish which scared Dick and Jason, the other asked them if he knew them from somewhere. 

“Doubt it” was all Jason said, cutting in before Dick could say anything. Jason led Dick away with a hand on the shoulder.

They slept there over night and woke up early at the same time with empty stomachs and an almost unending tiredness.

“What do we do?” asked Dick.

“I dunno about you, but I’m starving” said Jason, confidence in his words. “Feeling much better now. Maybe that stench we slept on was actually an organic theraputic remedy.”

Dick smiled at this joke, thinking about how calm Jason was. He had a confidence Dick honestly couldn’t believe since Dick himself felt far from it. He was cold, poor, depressed, and honestly scared by the strangeness of the situation. He had complete trust in Jason who had experience on the street, but he didn’t trust that nothing bad would happen.

“Where do you suggest we eat?” asked Dick.

“There’s two options really, but I doubt you’ll like either of them.”

Dick gave him a look, thinking about the two only options he himself could think of. “So we can eat from a trash can or-”  
“-Or we could steal” finished Jason, his face void of emotion. Both options sounded uninviting to the pair. 

“Why not just find a soup kitchen or something?” asked Dick. 

“They poison the food just to get rid of the homeless population” said Jason.

Dick looked mortified. “That has to be an urban legend. They can’t do that!”

Jason laughed at how naieve Dick was. “Of course they get away with it. Who cares if the homeless goes missing?” He walked in front of Dick, leading them towards the food district of Gotham’s scummiest area. They went into a nearby McDonalds and looked around. Dick looked at the uninviting trash cans around them, not wanting to put his hands in them.

Jason suddenly dashed to a table on the far right of the chain restraunt and dived at an abandoned burger. He grabbed it and returned to Dick. He pointed behind the older boy who turned and saw a fish burger with at least two bites taken out of it. Dick went to it and stared. Absolutely Disgusting.

He picked it up tentatively, and turned to find Jason looking desperately in a bin, snatching up what he could. He removed his head from the bin with a small bundle and made eye contact with Dick. 

“FUCK OFF YOU DUMBASS KIDS!” screeched the 21 year old manager. Jason ran for the door, Dick in close persuit, and they didn’t stop until they had returned to the spot from the previous night. 

They sat down out of breath and leaned their heads against the wall behind them. “What did you get?” asked Jason. 

“Half eaten fish burger.” he squeezed it. “It’s already tough. Im not sure if it’s safe to eat. You?”

Jason held up a bag with a muffin wrapper, a hash brown which was obviously dropped on the floor, a hotcake container with maple syrup in it, and a packet with a half eaten cinnamon scroll. “These, and the burger of course. The burgers must be from yesterday. Theyre only doing breakfast right now, remember?”

He handed Dick the scroll, never being a fan of them himself, and poured maple syrup over the hash brown, saving the rest for Dick’s burger. “It tastes like old lady balls, but its still better than tasting whatever was on the floor” declared Jason.

Dick ate the scroll greedily. Jason had really lived like this for years? And hey, maybe they would too. Until Dick was 18 of course, but that was a bright and shiny two or so years away.

Dick watched the people in the alley while he ate. They gave Dick and Jason odd glances every now and then. Had the number of people increased since last night? Surely there were less than 9 then... He looked back down at his food, stealing glances at Jason every now and then. They ate slowly, wanting to conserve what little energy they were gaining. 

When they were full enough, the strange woman from the previous night approached them. Jason dumped whatever was left in the bag in front of her, and she dived at it immediately. The pair stood and watched her disgusting display, dick with a mortified expression, Jason with mild annoyance. “Cmon” said the younger one, walking towards the opening of the alley. Dick watched for a second longer and then followed.

“Oi,” said one of the other men in the alley. He stood in front of Dick, and the boy panicked for only a moment before remembering who he was. “We reckon we know who you’s ar’.” spit flew from his mouth onto Dick’s face.  
He wiped the moisture off with his sleeve, and moved around the stranger, who grabbed his arm suddenly. “You’s ar’ the Wayne guy’s kids. Or ya was before that accident got im an’ hundreds o’ others. Even th’ Goddamned Batman.” Dick stared at this man who still had his arm with a grim glare. “So this is what ya reduced to.” his head moved closer to Dick’s. “No fancy Butlers to save ya, no Bodyguards, and no Batman.” His nose was mere inches from Dick’s own. The 16 year old refused to lose eye contact.

Both were startled when Jason kicked the stranger in the nose, grabbed Dick by the other arm, and ran. Both boy’s legs moved quickly, and a group of three ran after them. Being younger and much more agile, Dick and Jason outran them easily. They only regret leaving their basic possessions when they got far enough away for Jason to deem them safe.

“Maybe we should find some disguises?” suggested Dick.

“No” decided Jason. “They wouldn’t work, and we would look even more suspicious.” 

Dick stared at the ground. “Where do we stay tonight?” 

The sun was high in the sky, only 10.30 in the day. “We’ll worry about that later. For now we need to kill time.”

“Sure.” Dick was still unsure. There had to be something more productive to do... “What did you have in mind?” 

“Skate park. There’s always something to do there.” Jason was moving before Dick could even think about objecting. The pair walked in silence until they found themselves at the skatepark at the edge of the city. It was almost empty, except for a few young adults doing tricks on their skateboards, and other teens doing drugs in the nearby tunnel.  
Dick was a little disgusted by the site. “Why did you bring us here? Theres nothing and a bunch of nobodies here.” 

Jason told Dick to sit on a nearby bench and went over to the teenagers. He spoke to them for a minute or so, and returned to Dick with three objects. He pulled out one of the objects, a cigarette, and offered it to a horrified Dick. “You’re fourteen!” he cried out.  
“Doesn’t matter out here” replied Jason, who put the stick in his mouth and lit it with a lighter he must have had on him the whole time. He blew out the smoke and offered it to Dick again, who took it apprehensively. He looked at Jason unsure of what to do, and then put the cigarette between his lips and took a breath. He felt it enter his lungs, and blew it out again harder than he anticipated. He returned the cigarette to Jason and said “I guess it does work to take the edge off a little,” and truthfully this is exactly what it did. Dick had never had a cigarette in his life, but Jason had an expertise when it came to the small device. “They all cigarettes?” asked Dick, already knowing the answer.  
“Only two of em. The other ones for when shit gets really hard.” 

They sat there for the rest of the day, talking, laughing, wasting away the hours. They had hardly had the time to just sit and talk like friends, ever, really. It only became worse after Bruce died because Dick was always out working, trying to provide for the younger one.  
Dick and Jason discovered just how different they really were, and they had such a good time that they almost forgot they were homeless, and maybe they were even a little bit happy about it. Neither really had close friends. It would have compromised their nightly activities, but now there was no worry of it. It began getting dark, and hunger was setting in again.  
They waited until it was midnight and snuck into a dumpster behind a fancy restraunt. They found some solids between the disgarded mashed potatoes and pumpkin, though most of it was bones. A few carrots and other vegetables were found, and a lot of salad was in there too. It was all disgusting, but it was better than nothing. 

The boys fell asleep in a different alley on a large piece of cardboard, leaning into each other for warmth. They had only been outside for a day and a half, and for now, they were okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And boom, a surprise update for the story nobody wants! Should be a bumpy, wild ride from here on out.


	5. Chapter 5

Dick had been Robin for 3 years. His senses had improved and he could sense danger a mile away.  
He woke up in the early hours of the morning to a sound some distance above him and Jason; a slight clinc of metal on metal. He pushed his brother off his shoulder, stood up to inspect this noise and saw a silhouette with two glowing eyes between a pair of pointed ears. 

“Batman?” asked a sleep deprived Dick, sheilding his eyes from the lights behind the new intruder. The stranger stopped whatever they were doing and jumped down to the first level of the fire escape.  
“Why if it isn’t Gotham’s own story of rags to riches and back to rags.”

Dick would know that voice anywhere. If he didn’t, the hiss in her tone would have given her away.  
“We didn’t kill him.” said Dick, unable to make eye contact with the newly revealed catwoman. 

“But you didn’t save him either.” she sat so her leg fell off the side of the escape and glared down her nose at Dick. “If it were either of you beaten and trapped in a room with a bomb, he would go to the ends of the Earth to save you. He gave you everything, and you repay him by getting him shot and so many others killed.”

Dick looked down in shame. “We tried our best” he whispered.

Catwoman jumped off the escape and stalked towards Dick. “I don’t know which one of you screwed up so bad, but the fact that one of you is protecting the other is the biggest insult to Bruce. You don’t both have to live like this... Tell me now which one of you did it, and I’ll take the innocent one home.”

Dick looked at Jason for a moment, seriously considering what Selena had said. He then looked at his shoes, saying nothing.

“Pity. You’re a selfish boy Dick.” 

Dick listened to her leave, keeping his feet firmly planted. They had done well the past year, and if he had told Selena the truth they would have been split up. He could have lied, given the one who failed Bruce the good life and left the better Robin to live on the street, but Dick just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Him and Jason needed each other out there, or neither could survive.

~~~

The skate park became their trusted spot. Dick sat and watched the skaters, and Jason went to find them some food. It took about half an hour until they were reunited, when a red faced Jason sat next to Dick completely out of breath.

“Were you running?” asked Dick, staring at the chips, MnMs, and sausage rolls Jason had put between them.

“Store clerk... Wasn’t happy” replied Jason between breaths.

“You stole them!?” asked Dick in a hushed tone.

Jason gave him a look. Of course they were stolen items, but they were fresh.  
“Got you this too” said Jason, pulling a rolled up newspaper from inside his hoodie.

Dick took it without a word and unravelled it while Jason began opening the hoard. On the front cover was Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonderwoman with the title “PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST”, which left Dick feeling terrible. 

He remembered Batman’s tribute at the watchtower. Catwoman and Alfred weren’t the only ones who blamed the former Robins for what had happened. He could vividly recall the Flash saying they had a lot of nerve, showing their face in there. He could recall the way everyone avoided making eye contact with them, even when he desperately tried to make it with anybody. He remembered how he lost the nerve of asking if any of them could take him and the new Robin in, which seemed pathetic looking back from so far in the future.

Dick dropped the newspaper to his other side and picked up a hotdog. Him and Jason spoke, but it was far less enjoyable compared to the previous day. The thought of Selena’s words resounded clearly in Dick’s head. One of them could have been sitting in a middle class luxury at that very moment, eating food that had been paid for, most likely from a farmer’s market (knowing Selena.)

When the food was gone, they sat and watched the skaters for a while longer. “What next?” asked Dick to an experienced Jason.

“Well we could go with plan A or plan B.”

“What’s plan A?” asked Dick, still watching the skaters.

“Plan A is you whore yourself out, like we said back at Alfred’s.” Jason’s lips were curled in as he tried not to laugh. Dick smiled genuinely at the happy memory of that dumb conversation they had had.

“Stick a pin in that one, we may come back to it. What’s plan B?”

Jason’s face became stern. “We acquire some tools and sell top of the line merch at slum prices.”

Silence rang between the pair. Of course Dick didn’t want to do that, but what other choice was there. “As long as you know what you're doing” said Dick with a worried tone.

They sat and watched the skaters some more.

~~~

 

“If we get split up, meet up at crime alley, okay?” said Jason. Both boys were eyeing a set of tools sitting at the base of a constuction site. 

“Okay, but remind me again why I have to do the actual stealing?” 

“You’re stealthier than me, and I’m quicker than you. Its just easier.”

“But you’re stronger” observed Dick, both boys kneeling to the ground behind the fence, “That craps just going to slow me down and make me slower.” 

“Just get in, get out, get hidden. Then we can go from there.”

A whistle sounded on the other side of the fence, indicating a lunch break. Dick’s heart was pounding out of his chest. “Crime alley?” confirmed the older boy.

“Crime alley.” replied Jason. 

“Chicken calls?” asked Dick.

“Chicken calls.” replied Jason.

They stood again and looked over the fence. Moments later, Jason vaulted over the closed site and Dick watched him. He saw Jason walking casually around, but it didn’t take long for someone to spot him. “Oi!” yelled one of the workers.  
Dick watched as a small group stood to confront Jason, who watched them like a deer in headlights. The former Robin then screamed loudly for only a second, keeping his strange face on. He ripped off his pants and ran around the corner of the makeshift building set up for lunch, waving his arms wildly. Dick watched the men stand and run to the corner to watch the strange view unfold. Dick listened, and vaulted the fence himself when he hear Jason making chicken noises. 

He made his way to the tools at the base of the new structure and then made his way back to the fence, his eyes never leaving the congregation of men who could turn around and spot him at any moment.  
He flung the toolbox over the fence while keeping his grip on it, and followed it silently. He made himself hidden and took as many backstreets as he could towards crime alley. He finally made it and dropped to the ground against a wall. Finally able to relax, he realised just how sore his arms were. The tools were much heavier than he had expected, but the adrenaline made it so he didn’t even notice. But his part was done.

Jason joined Dick over an hour later and collapsed down beside the older boy. “They had me forever” said an exasperated Jason. “Chicken noises just made em angry.”

“What next?” asked Dick, shifting through the box of their stolen prizes. 

“Next is the hard part.” he held a spanner in his hand, unable to take his eyes off it.

~~~

A whole month passed and the boys had enough money to eat well, but they were close to notorious.  
Noone had taken a picture of their faces, thankfully, but they had too many close calls. 

The rule was to take only as much as they needed to live, and so far that had been a burden for them. They moved constantly and made their temporary homes in underpasses, in tunnels, on benches. They shared their space with murderers, theifs, and all other varieties of scum. They were tired, especially Dick.

The thought of Selena’s offer rang over and over in his head throughout that month. He thought about how he had the choice to either lie to her, or tell the truth.  
He could live under a roof and leave Jason to fend for himself as he had done before he met Bruce, of he could give the luxury to Jason who only had a taste of what a loving family was like.  
Dick decided to never tell Jason about the night Selena had run into them. It would just be easier, or that was what he told himself.

Every day, Jason got his hands on the newspaper, and one particular day had them anticipating.  
There was a special invite only gala happening, where the richest people in Gotham were to gather. It was disguised as a charity event, but everyone knew it was merely an event to display their wealth.  
There would be valet parking, and with their stealth and abilities, Jason and Dick would be able to steal as many hubcaps, hood ornaments, and radios as they could carry. 

“We should be able to pay for a whole years rent with this load!” stated Jason, excited and already planning what they would do. 

“Yeah... I hope it all goes well from here.” Dick felt run down, and he was tired of stealing. The way he saw it, this would be the last time they had to steal, perhaps for the following year. He didn’t dare deny Jason of that. Of course he already had though...

“It will. Nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan.”  
Dick of course saw a multitude of what could go wrong, but they had acquired more tools, and could take whatever they wanted whenever they wanted it. If they wanted food, they stole car parts and sold them off to others. They turned a very slight profit, but usually it was enough. Usually.


	6. Chapter 6

It was decided the more experienced Jason would do the actual stealing while Dick kept a look out with the aid of his better sixth sense. If he saw anyone who could damage their chances, he clicked his fingers and both boys ran and hid, throwing the tools flat underneath the rear end of the car. It was simple and brilliant, and both boys were ready.

“Pass the small spanner” said Jason, having already picked the lock and entered the red Ferrarri. Dick did as he was asked and carefully handed the request to Jason, heart beating fast in his chest. He kept his eyes directed on the entrance, watching for anybody. When another car pulled up, he ducked and clicked his fingers.  
Jason slid out of the car, abandoning his attempt to get the radio. He threw the tools between the back wheels and both boys dodged the beam of light coming from the right of the car park.

A valet parked the car and locked it, walking back towards his post while scrawling away in a small notebook, completely unaware that there were two deviants not ten metres away from himself.   
When the coast was clear, the boys slunk back into their positions, Jason fiddling with the radio which finally budged. “Got it” he told Dick, throwing it into the bag he held on his own back. “Which one next?”

Dick scanned the lot. He wished he knew who the cars belonged to...  
“This one” he finally decided, pointing to a long black Lamborghini to the far left of the lot.

The boys stayed out there for two hours, listening and waiting and taking. They had stolen from perhaps 30 cars, and were already on their 5th bag. They hid the full ones in a large hedge, which they would either come back for or snag & run. The valets were on break and didn’t bother them at all anymore.   
Dick’s guard began to slip, especially when he caught a glimpse of the party inside.   
“Why don’t you go take a proper look?” asked Jason affectionately.   
“You sure?” asked Dick, wary of leaving Jason unattended.  
Jason waved a hand, and it was all Dick needed.

Dick ran towards the large windows on the side of the building which stretched up three stories. These windows were out of view of the car park, and through them Dick saw a fantastic example of fortune.  
He recognised most of the faces; celebrities, entrepreneurs, business heads, and of course their families. Dick recalled vividly how much he hated these parties, but now, a poor boy looking in, he wanted nothing else; not for the fortune or the noteriety, but for the whole families laughing and mingling.   
He watched as the owner of the venue stood against the feature wall, so Dick saw him in profile. He clinked a spoon against his glass and began to speak. Dick couldn’t hear a word he was saying, but when he raised his glass in a toast and everyone else followed suit, Dick picked up a nearby twig and held it as if it were the base of a wineglass. He saw the host mouth the words “A toast! To-” but Dick didn’t understand anything said afterwards.   
The guests shared a polite applause, but their faces contorted with concern at the loud noise which began so suddenly. 

Dick recognised it immediately as a car alarm and ran to Jason as fast as he could. He ran to the offending car, but Jason was nowhere in sight.  
He ran down the aisles of cars, searching for the black hair or pale skin. “Jason!” he called out, heart pounding and face going red. He heard the main doors open on the other side of the lot and ran towards the hedge containing their stolen goods instead. 

Dick ducked down into the bush, watching the other side through a haze of sticks and leaves, mind racing, desperate to find even a glimpse of Jason.  
Guests finally arrived to their individual cars, some disgusted by the sudden absense of their hood ornaments or hubcaps. Most left immediately, but the loudest car sat immobile while the owner watched it. Dick’s heart fell into his stomach when he realised who it was: Cobblepot. His beak like nose and fat neck recognisable anywhere.

He pushed a button on his keys, finally silencing the alarm, and looked around as if the perpetrator would appear to him. He looked around, finally catching sight of the hedge containing both Dick and the stolen goods. His gaze followed the length of the hedge, sending a shiver down Dick’s spine when it crossed over him.   
It was dark, and even though there was no way for Dick to be seen, especially from the distance between them, Cobblepot seemed to stare straight at Dick, as if there wasn’t a hedge blocking his view at all. Dick stared at him, avoiding his eye deliberately but looking all the same. His body froze, his eyes unmoving, and then a hand came from nowhere and covered Dick’s mouth, hard. 

Dick wanted to scream, but the hand was very firmly planted. He was pulled into the intruder’s chest, unable to even squeak. A head popped up next to his ear, and whispered “Don’t worry. It’s me.” Dick relaxed immediately, turning his head to look at his idiot brother.  
He slapped Jason on the arm. “You idiot” he said under his breath. He turned his head back to where Cobblepot had once stood, but saw only his car.

“You grab those ones” said Jason, already with a bag on his back and two more in his hands. “We can take the back streets, then we can pawn these off tomorrow.” Dick spared one more glance at where Cobblepot had been, and did as he was asked. 

The boys didn’t sleep for the whole night, afraid someone would take what they had already stolen, or afraid that someone would find them and recognise them even though nobody had seen them. They surrounded their good as best as they could, never abandoning the pile for even a second. They protected what would bring them a small fortune with their lives, but it was unnecessary. Nobody bothered them for the whole night.

**

They carried the bags down Gotham’s streets with only one intention; find the guy, get the money, survive for longer.   
“Where are we taking this anyway?” asked Dick.  
“I know a guy. I used to do favours for him, stealing specifics and what-not.”  
Dick nodded, again flustered by the memory that Jason used to actually be a street kid.

The pair turned into a garage where a scrawny man was wiping oil from his hands with a filthy rag. “Anything I can help you boys with?” he asked.  
Jason dropped a bag by his own leg. “Yeah. Need to see the big man.”   
Dick was expecting a scene out of the movies; the stranger nods once and leaves, returning with a bigshot in a fancy suit with three or more body guards. Instead, the stranger yelled out “OI! TONY!” and a voice boomed back “What” from behind the door on the second level, another scrawny guy poking his head out. Dick was only seeing him from a distance, but he seemed so familiar...

Tony and the scrawny mechanic yelled to each other, the first descending the stairs slowly in an expensive suit with white powder under one of his nostrils.

“Who is this guy?” asked Dick, apprehensive and unable to take his eyes off the familiar face.  
“Thats the best guy to sell to. He does thrift business, but he also does insurance fraud, counterfeit billing, and a whole bunch of other shady businesses. Just let me do the talking.”

“Jason! I haven’t seen you in years” said Tony, putting a hand out to shake Jason’s. “Heard you went and lived with Bruce Wayne. Not very nice to turn your back on us for lobster.”   
Jason shook his hand while Dick looked at the man’s features, trying to decide just why he looked so familiar.   
“I must admit it was nice while it lasted, but now we’re in a bit of trouble. We inherited nothing when he died, so now we have to fall back on my old business. This here is Dick.” Jason threw a thumb in Dick’s direction, as if there were many people who Jason may have been indicating. “He was another Wayne adoptee. He’s a good guard dog. But onto business, we have a vatiety of merchandise here, all genuine, all from expensive cars. I expect a good amount of cash for it.”

Jason toed the bag on tne ground to Tony who opened it and took out the first thing on the top; a radio worth no less than $900. He rummaged through the bag while Jason watched him for any funny business. When Tony removed himself from the bag, he said “Hood ornaments are worth maybe, 80 each, some 60 or less, radios for three hundred bucks each, hubcaps for 60 or less. Depends on what you’ve got.”  
Jason nodded, picked up the bag and replied “We will sort all of this out and give you an estimate. Then we will tell you if we have a deal or not Mr Zucco.” 

Dick froze and did a doubletake of Jason. Zucco. Tony Zucco.   
His heart constricted in his chest, and he immediately became lightheaded. Jason didn’t know, so Dick really couldn’t blame him, but damnit if he knew what Dick wanted to do to him at that moment.   
Jason walked towards the exit of the garage, but Dick was still frozen. Jason turned and tapped Dick on the shoulder; “You alright Dick? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Dick’s eyes were wide, his jaw almost reaching the floor. Zucco studied him with a look of unease. “Is your friend alright Jason?” 

Jason waved him hand in front of Dick’s face. Dick shoved Jason away from him and marched up to Zucco, dangerously close to his face. They were a similar height now, and Dick wondered why he was ever afraid of this man. “You ruined my life” he spat, red faced and teeth bared.   
Zucco seemed to study Dick’s features a little closer, confusion evident. It contorted into a look of amusement when he finally realised. “A flying Grayson. A circus brat. I suppose you don’t mind living on the filthy street. Surely its a step up from the travelling circus-” Dick threw a punch, landing it right on Zucco’s eye. He was thrown back by the force, and the scrawny mechanic pulled out a gun, training it towards Dick’s chest with a scary accuracy. Zucco held his hand up to stop any fire.  
“Not worth the bullets.” He returned to his feet, composing himself well. “Jason, we may still manage business of course. The Orphan clown is not invited though. Now get out of my sight.

Jason nodded at Zucco then continued to walk away. Dick followed begrudgingly, pure hate in his eyes as he stared back at Zucco. They were just... Walking away.

“The fuck was that?” asked Jason when they were a block over.   
“That... It was Tony Zucco!” Dick’s voice was pained, his voice cracking on the last word. “He... How can you associate with him?”  
“How do you even know him?” asked Jason, inpatience in his tone.  
“He killed my parents!” Dick almost screamed this, but he was already drawing too much attention to himself. He was crying and looked like a raggy brat. He didn’t need everyone who could hear him watching as well.

“What do you-” Jason began, but Dick was already crying too hard. He put a hand on the older’s shoulder and led him towards crime alley, where they had already decided to crash for the night. Dick looked pathetic, and if Jason didn’t feel so sorry for him he would have already ditched. 

“You have to have the wrong guy” said Jason when they dropped their bags in their spot on the ground. “Zucco is scummy, sure, but he’s honest.”   
“I saw him. I saw him and said nothing and then he loosened the trapeze and then my parents fell and they died. If i told someone when i first saw him they would still be alive. I’d never go to Bruce’s, never become Robin, and maybe then he would still be alive, and you would still be at the mansion with Bruce and Alfred.”  
Jason thought this over. “He’s the only one we can go to. You don’t have to see him anymore. You wait outside every time we go there- it should only be once or twice more, and then we can have money, and then we can live in a rented apartment.”  
Dick sighed and collapsed next to the bags. Jason kneeled next to him and put an arm around Dick’s shoulder. It felt strange, but it felt like the right thing to do.

Minutes passed, Dick calmed down, and they finally began to sort through their products, counting and organising them into their own bags by brand and type.  
Jason often spared a glance at the older boy who was still visibly upset, but he said nothing further on the topic. He trusted Zucco. He had always given Jason good business all those years ago, and he was giving them good business now, even though Dick had punched him in the face.

“You can stay here if you want” said Jason at 7 o’clock that night. They had sorted everything and were ready to take them back to Zucco.   
“No. Last time I almost lost you for good.” Dick may have said it as a joke if he was happier, but in his current state he was dead serious. His eyes had become sunken and puffy in the short time since Dick had recognised Zucco. 

The pair arrived at Zucco’s place with their bags in hand. Jason took the three Dick was carrying, sympathy on his features. “I’ll be as quick as I can, okay?”   
Dick made eye contact and broke it immediately, a frown never leaving his face. Jason took this as tne only sign he would get and left Dick in an alleyway two blocks from their destination. 

Jason entered the shop, finding another mechanic. “Here to see Zucco” said Jason, cutting straight to the point. He wanted to get back to Dick as soon as he could, especially since he was making a trade with the person who had ruined Dick’s life. It felt like a betrayal, because it was a betrayal.

“Jason. Good timing. So do you know how much you have there?”

Jason ordered the bags from the most expensive to least expensive, describing the contents of each and how much they were worth if Zucco was right.   
Zucco called over the mechanic, a different one from earlier, and had him rifle througn the bags while Zucco listed off the model and damages to each object. The process was slow and tedious, and Jason was growing impatient, but of course he knew how this stuff went. 

“Alright Jason” said Tony Zucco half an hour later, “If my calculations are correct, I owe you eleven Grande. You were good at getting radios, especially from the bigger brands. There’s a lot I can do with this lot, and I’m glad you came to me with your business.” He ascended to the second level and returned to Jason with a black bag. “Eleven thousand, in cash. Should be enough to get by on.”

“Thankyou Mr Zucco” said Jason with a nod. He walked away at a leisurely place, walking faster when he was out of sight. Eleven thousand. This wouldn’t be enough for Jason and Dick for the whole year. Perhaps six month, but certainly no more. Jason walked in a dream like state, ignoring the world around him. He was completely zoned out, and didn’t even realise when he walked straight past the alley where he left Dick.

He realised soon enough and doubled back. He looked down the alley from his end, confusion baring itself at Dick’s absense. “Dick?” called Jason, treading slowly down the opening.   
His heart was pounding, his eyes darting to every crevice he could see. “Dick?” he called again.   
There were footprints going from the scene, three whole sets. Dust still hadn’t settled, and there were marks in the dirt where there had obviously been a scuffle. They certainly hadn’t been there before. Jason had chosen this one especially because it didn’t have signs of any crimes or misfortunes.  
Dick wasn’t just nowhere to be seen; he’d been taken.


	7. Chapter 7

Dick huffed as he followed Jason.

It was almost 7 o’clock. Dick felt absolutely murderous as he followed the younger boy. Jason would look down an alley, and continue on as if he were looking for something in particular; not just an empty alley though. A spot where Dick would actually be safe.

Dick may have beaten up his younger brother for being so patronising any other time, but this time he had his mind on other things. Zucco of course was number one.  
He could recall vividly the night his parents were killed by Tony Zucco’s hand, and he could recall the night Batman and Robin put Tony Zucco behind bars, supposedly for good. He was sentenced to 30 years and Dick had his justice.  
He was meant to have his justice.

His fists clenched and his brow furrowed. His lip quivered and he would have started crying in frustration if Jason hadn’t suddenly stopped, allowing Dick to slam into his back.

“This one” said the younger boy.  
“Sure. Whatever.” replied Dick, dropping his bags to the ground. He walked down the alley, stuck inside his thoughts. He glanced in the direction of the garage where Zucco resided, the momentary thought of murder making itself present in his head for only a split second.  
“I’ll be as quick as I can, okay?” said Jason. Dick looked into his eyes, looking for the slightest bit of evidence that Jason was sorry, that he genuinely didn’t know Zucco was a murderer. All he saw were clouded blue orbs which refused to show any emotion. Jason was always good at that.

Dick leaned against a wall and watched Jason walk away. He thought about Selina and her offer. He was tempted more than ever to take her up on it, putting himself in a place of near luxury and leaving Jason to fend for himself with the assistance of the scumbag murderer Tony Zucco.  
Dick slid down the wall, tears welling up in his eyes. They were getting help from THE Tony Zucco. The Tony Zucco who single handedly ruined Dick’s life. The Tony Zucco who Batman and Robin put behind bars, allegedly for 30 years...

This thought stuck in Dick’s head. How the hell did Zucco get out? He didn’t escape, it would have been in the news. Perhaps parole? A very early parole.  
Dick scoffed at the thought. “I'll kill him” he said under his breath. Tears fell down his face, but Dick was worn out. He had a splitting headache which just wouldn’t go away. He wiped away the tears and put a hand to his head, resting his elbow on his thigh. ‘If Jason wanted to continue doing business with Zucco after tonight’ he thought, ‘he can do it without me. I’ll go to Selina’s, and he can stay on the street.’  
He stared ahead, light headed and beaten. Across from him was a plain red wall, no graffitti, no questionable stains, nothing. “Maybe this is the only clean wall in Gotham” whispered Dick aloud. The statement had no relevance to his thoughts or his current situation. It wasn’t meant for anyone but though it meant nothing to Dick, looking at this wall made him feel somewhat like his old self. If he stood and stared at this wall for hours, weeks, months, he could even convince himself that he wasn’t in Gotham, where every other wall was stained, broken, graffittied, and completely messed up. 

Dick stared at the wall and didn’t even see the three new editions to the alley way until they were right next to him.  
Defensively, Dick stood up and leaned away from them, prepared to run (to run where in this dead end alley, he wasn’t sure.)  
“You're coming with us” said one of the men.  
Dick assessed the situation. These guys were huge, and he had to get past them, even though the three of them lined up shoulder to shoulder across the alley to block any escape.  
Dick ran forward and kicked the one on the left in the balls. He pushed him to the side, or he tried to anyway. The kick hadn’t effected the man who must have been wearing a sports cup, or some other type of armour. He wrapped his massive arms around Dick, flinging him around, literally throwing him to the man next to him like a stuffed toy.  
The other man caught Dick and held him around the middle, his other hand over the boy’s mouth. The final man on the right tied Dick’s arms behind his back with zipties. Dick was thrown over someone’s shoulders, and no matter how much he kicked or screamed, he couldn’t escape. 

Next thing Dick knew he was being thrown into the back seat of a limo, a giant man on either side of him. “What do you want with me?” asked Dick, but of course they didn’t answer him.  
Dick tugged on the restraints behind his back, trying to loosen them without drawing any attention to himself. Of course, if he did manage to set his arms free there was nowhere to go afterwards. He had a man on either side of himself and surely they wouldn’t open the door for him, no matter how politely he asked.  
Dick sat tight for the duration of the ride. He wanted to demand answers, prove that he wasn’t afraid, fight them until he had his freedom, but he wasn’t stupid enough to try in such a tiny space.

When the limo finally came to a stop, Dick leant forward to stare through the window and find out just where they were. His face contorted to confusion at the sight of the giant concrete building marked ‘Gotham Aviary’.  
The man on Dick’s right exit the limo and reached back in, taking Dick underneath both arms. Dick struggled in the painful grip, kicking backwards in the hopes one would land somewhere good. Dumb move.  
The man threw, yes threw, Dick face first onto the filthy footpath where he landed on he right. He felt his gum split, and felt one of his molars disconnect from his gum, while the canine and incisor next to it chipped in a jagged diagonal line. His front tooth, his right incisor, chipped in a downward diagonal motion creating an ugly trianglular hole in his mouth.  
Dick spit out the teeth, blood erupting from his mouth with them. His eyes welled up with tears but he didn’t even scream. His face was bleeding and his right eye was already swollen and bloodshot, but it was his only chance...

Dick stood and began to run, only he didn’t get far. His leg was bruised from the throw, and two of the men caught up to him with very little effort.  
“You're not getting away theif” said the tallest one, who was dragging Dick by his hair towards the aviary entrance.  
“You’re the theives” braved Dick, “You just stole me off the street!” The other man, who was following behind, kicked Dick in the ass. He didn’t mean to cry out, but the boots were steel capped and painful.  
“Dare you to say that to the boss, ya little theivin’ prick”

The third man stood by the door and opened it when they approached, following in after the other three. Dick only saw the floor, unable to turn his head with that feirce grip in his hair.  
He was dragged through three doors at least 25 metres away from each other, and finally thrown through the last one into a room with exotic sounding birds, calming chirps, loud barks and squarks, baby peep-peeps. Dick landed on his knees and didn’t raise his head to look at the fantastic colours and incredible environment. He didn’t dare look up until he was spoken to; he knew the rules here!

Dick stared at the ground, even when the view changed to show two fancy shoes stuffed with fat feet, and the tip of an umbrella.  
Dick coukd hear the three men breathing behind him, loud and gruff. He definitely wouldn’t be able to escape yet.

The tip of the umbrella was thrust under Dick’s jaw. He moaned at the sharp stabbing pain that shot up and around his mouth and the whole right side of his face. He raised his head to look at the man before him through puffy and swollen eyes as the umbrella was guiding him to do, too hurt to do anything else. He stared straight into the beady eyes above the beak-like nose. “I- I didn’t-”  
“You stole from me” said Oswald Cobblepot. “You stole my hood ornament. You woulda stolen more if you could get into my car without sounding the alarm.”  
Dick didn’t know what to say. He didn’t technically steal from Oswald, Jason did. He couldn’t rat Jason out though... ‘Play dumb’ he thought. For now anyway. “I don’t-”  
Oswald gripped Dick’s injured jaw in his fat hand and turned it from side to side, examining the younger boy’s face, ignoring the cries and shaking coming from him. He scrutinized Dick as if looking for something valuable. “I know you from somewhere” he almost demanded. The memory was there, but from what Dick was unsure. “You- Oh! You’re the Wayne boy!” Oswald stood back again and released his grip. He laughed, proud that he had concluded his own mystery.

Dick’s head lolled foward. He pulled on his restraints again. He wanted to hold his own jaw, put pressure on his bleeding teeth and gums, feel the injured side of his face. His actions didn’t go unnoticed.  
“Not getting out of em yet. You gotta learn ya lesson, righ’? Theivin’ lit’l bastard.” Oswald bent down onto one knee in front of Dick, still towering above the teen. “Yer a street rat now. Common theif. I remember when Bruce Bloody Wayne showed up to my event with ya for the first time. My event. Your first public appearence where I shoulda had the spotlight, but the girls went crazy for the new ‘daddy’. Fuckin sickening it was.” He spat on the ground next to him. “but now, now he’s dead and gone. Shot and blown up and whose fault is it? Eh?” he gripped Dick’s hair and pulled it so the boy would look at him. His voice became deeper. “Whose fault is it? Eh?”  
The smile was sadistic. 

Dick swallowed the saliva in his mouth around the lump in his throat. “It wasn’t my fault.” 

“No. It was your little brother’s though. Demanding little shit he was, and it got all those people killed.” Oswald laughed, loud and ugly with his head thrown back. “Even- Even the bloody Batman! Stuck in the roof! I seen ‘im get beaten and bloodied by my own men, but he gets killed by a lil’ bomb? Thats a fucking riot!” His laugh was absolutely sickening. Dick wanted to look away.

“I didn’t steal your radio.”  
“I know” replied Oswald, “But you were the accomplice. My old friend didn’t want to say who the main one was, but I’m just going to assume it was the other Wayne brat. Can’t touch him while Zucco’s watchin’, but he was more than happy to tell me about you, Dick. Had a right laugh when he told me bout’ your connection to him. Almost bust a gut laughin’! Knew he would be worth the bribe money when I first set eyes on ‘im.”  
Dick wasn’t surprised. He knew he should have been, but he wasn’t. “You bailed him out. He was sentenced to 30 years with no bail, but you're the richest, most powerful man in Gotham these days, outside it’s underbelly anyway. What would you want with Zucco though, if you don’t mind my asking?”  
“Still so polite, even when you’re on the street eating out of garbage cans and dumpsters.” Oswald’s voice had become soft, as if he really were impressed. “He was an old business partner of mine, way back before there was even a Batman. Nothing too major, just sharing profits and merchandise. Always served me well, so I figured I should return the favour, even if im a little late in it. Now tha' Batmans gone, can bribe anyone if you have the right amount, and clearly it was worth it. He called me straight after you and wats-is-face left the shop, said ‘Ozzy, I found the brat that got ya car, boys named Dick, hes short with black hair, find him alone in an alley in a couple hours and he’s all yours!’ An offer I couldn’t refuse.”

The shock from his teeth And head was beginning to ware off. Dick began shaking, the pain worse than anything he had ever felt. He snapped the zip-ties off easily, throwing his left hand in his mouth to put as much pressure on his injured teeth as he could, the other cupping the right side of his face. He groaned, his throat vibrating into a yell at random intervals.  
The men behind Dick took a step forward, prepared to restrain Dick, but stopped when Oswald put his hand up. “Let ‘im do it. He’s gonna be in a worse pain soon enough.” 

Dick could feel the tears falling down his face. They stung his bruised, ripped skin and fell to the floor in front of him. He wanted to say they wouldn’t have stolen the ornament if they knew it was his car, he wanted to say he was too good for Zucco, he wanted to say so much, but he couldn’t say a thing at that moment. Dick felt the stabbing in his head, right on the sides above his hairline. He heard a ringing in his ears that blocked out the beautiful singing of the various birds, and fell to his right. It would have hurt him if he weren’t already unconscious before he hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of your comments! They always give me ideas of what to do with the next chapter and tell me exactly the questions you want answered. Thanks to everyone for reading :)


	8. Chapter 8

Jason walked quickly towards crime alley. It was difficult not to rush in his panic. Surely Dick just got bored and left. It was perfectly reasonable, decided Jason, since Dick didn’t want to see Zucco in the first place. 

He jogged to the skate park after finding junkies shooting up in the alleyway he and Dick sometimes called home, and stopped in front of the construction site they had stolen their tools from three and a half hours later with still no sign of Dick. Jason bent over himself, short of breath not from his movement, but from a sickening worry. He had searched everywhere for the older boy, but hadn’t caught even a glimpse of him. 

Jason stood upright with a deep breath and stared at the highest part of the newly built tower. The construction workers had gone home for the day, leaving a tall abandoned structure, one which was ripe for climbing. Jason made his way to the top with an amatuer pace, cursing Bruce who would have been up there so much faster. At the top he stood on the tallest beam, unafraid of the freefall that would surely kill him if he slipped. He looked over the buildings around him, ignoring a shocked woman in one window and another woman trying to ignore the potential suicide outside her blindless window. 

From up there, Jason could see half the city. He could see the bank where he had once punched two-face in both halves of his face, the aviary where he and Batman cornered penguin, the botanic gardens where poison ivy almost killed Dick once. He looked beyond this, and he saw Wayne Manor.  
Jason’s eyes went wide. It would probably be a long shot. Dick had no business going there, but he had to try. 

Jason climbed down the structure hastily; too hastily. The envelope of money dropped out of his pocket.  
Jason let go of the beam he was holding and grabbed the one two levels down, gripping the envelope between the spaces. A scream sounded above him, the woman in the window, but Jason only had eyes for the papers in his hands. His eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat.

A new thought made its way into Jason’s mind, and it was difficult to dismiss. He could take the money for himself, rent a place for a whole year, get his own life back on track. Dick was the one who ran off, even though he knew they were about to come into money...  
Jason shook his head, trying to banish the thought which stuck like glue. “If I don’t find him in three days” said Jason aloud. He sighed, returned the envelope to his jeans pocket, and continued slowly and carefully down the side of the structure while the thought “three days” repeated over and over.

The thoughts didn’t stop as Jason walked slowly towards Wayne Manor. It would take some time to get there, but suddenly Jason was in no hurry. He wandered to the gates of his former home and went to disarm the alarms around the front gate, only to find they were already disarmed. The realisation hit Jason, and he ran straight for the front door, all thoughts of three days pushed to the back of his mind. He ignored his surroundings and burst through the front door. There was a light in an upstairs bedroom. Jason let out a short laugh and ran up the stairs, a flood of relief engulfung him. “I looked everywhere for you, you little shi-” but he stopped dead when he heard crying, but the sobs seemed to be from someone too old to be Dick. Jason peeked around the corner and froze in his place. 

“Jason” said Alfred, tears streaming down his cheeks.  
“Alfred, I-” Jason was lost for words. He and Dick had run out on Alfred, stealing his bucket and leaving only a photo in a shattered frame. Jason stepped into the room and rubbed the back of his neck, looking around awkwardly. He didn’t even see Alfred stand, and Jason certainly didn’t see him launch himself at the younger boy until he was already tightly inside the embrace. 

“I was so worried! When I got home and found the place empty I figured you two went for a walk or something, but then it got late and you two didn’t come back I thought I wouldn’t see you again.”

Jason stood in the embrace, stiff in the shoulders and back. “We didn’t want to burden you.”

“You two could never- though I did act that way- Oh Jason, will you ever forgive me?” 

“Of course” replied Jason, a hand unconsciously placing itself on Alfred’s back. They had stolen from Alfred, and broken his posession, yet he was the one asking for forgivness.  
He felt Alfred’s long breaths under his hand and looked at his surroundings, suddenly realising where they were. “Bruce’s room” he said, as if it were a new development.

“I come here whenever I can. Sometimes its twice a day. Sometimes its after a few months.” Alfred looked around thoughtfully and retreated slightly from Jason. “The room never changes. The whole damn house never changes. It seems as if dust wont even settle here anymore.” he let out a short, heartfelt laugh. “Of course if it did, I would clean it up straight away.” he stood in the middle of the room and stared out the window, the one which looked over Gotham from the highest peak. “Sometimes I pretend he’s still going to come home, that I’m not just cleaning an empty house.”

Jason shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot. He really didn’t know what to say.”I didn’t mean to bother you Alfred. I was just looking for-”  
“You’ve grown so much since I last saw you” said Alfred. Jason’s eyes widened at the sudden realisation, and he realised just how old Alfred looked. It was true Jason had grown in the time between seeing Alfred then and that day. He was a whole head taller than Alfred now, though Alfred had towered above him the previous time they met.  
“Yeah” replied Jason, a total loss of what to say. 

The pair stood silently, waiting for the other to say something. Finally, Jason said “I really should go. I’m sorry I bothered you” and he turned and left the room, hands buried in his pockets, one hand clutching his money.  
“Wait!” yelled Alfred as he took a heavy step forward. Jason didn’t mean to, but he stopped. “I don’t want to lose you two again. Please, please come live with me. You can stay for as long as you need, but please don’t leave me again. I lost the closest person I had to a son, and you boys are the only light in my life, have been since Richard came into it. Even with what happened to Bruce- please come live with me.” 

Jason’s heart stung in his chest. He wanted more than anything to go back with Alfred, but he couldn’t, and he told Alfred exactly that. “I look at you” he began, unable to make eye contact, “and I can’t get the image of Bruce out of my head. After that day, when we all came back here, I saw your face and the disappointment in it... I know you blame us, and I blame myself too. I took Bruce from you, I made the house empty.”  
Alfred shook his head frantically. “I never blamed you. It was a horrible accident... You did nothing wrong, really. It was just a bad day for it to happen on.”

Jason shook his head too, sincere that Alfred was lying to him. “Everyone blames us and they're right. I was selfish and stupid, and Dick was clumsy and cocky. We killed Batman.” Jason walked away, but was pulled back by a hand on his shoulder. The familiar touch was comforting, a homely feeling Jason missed dearly.  
“The offer is there. It will stay there for as long as I live. You always have been, and always will be welcomed in my spare bedroom and in my home.”  
“You didn’t have a spare bedroom last I checked” said Jason, a smirk touching the corner of his lips.  
“Had one set up the day you two disappeared from my house” said Alfred, no humour in his tone. 

Jason’s shoulders slumped. Alfred was so kind to him and Dick, and tney left him. A thought occured to Jason then. “I’m sorry about the picture. Dick wanted to see if you really did remove all traces of us from your life, and he kind of sat on it.”  
Alfred waved his hand. “It’s fine. I got a new frame for it.”  
Jason nodded and walked to the stairs. On the top one, he sat and watched the door. The drapes next to it were still, and he expected them to move with Bruce’s entrance as they used to. He sighed at how naieve he was.  
“I should have just... Left. He would still be alive if I did.”  
Alfred grunted when his joints cracked, sitting on the low stair next to Jason. “Hindsight won’t do much” he said.  
“No, I suppose it wont. But it’s true. I mean, birthdays don’t matter. Not really. So there isn’t a reason why I sat there and watched it all happen. I was lazy, I was stupid, and it really is my fault. I just... I didn’t realise how bad it really was.”  
Jason’s eyes welled with tears, but if Alfred noticed he stayed silent about it.  
“And Dick-” Jason stood up so suddenly, he almost knocked Alfred right down the stairs. “Dick!” he yelled. He ran down the stairs and into the room concealing the batcave entrance. Once down there, he hit keys on the computer, desperately searching through files, tried so hard to find what he was looking for.

Alfred followed him in, out of breath. “What on Earth are you doing?” he asked indignantly.  
“Theres trackers here, right?”  
Alfred moved beside him and rolled Jason’s chair out of the way of the screen. He typed away, Jason watching helplessly from the side. A map of Gotham blared before him, and eventually a triangle showing three red dots.  
“These are the trackers?” asked Jason, though they so obviously were.  
“Yes. Here’s you” said Alfred, pointing to a dot in a large square labelled ‘Wayne Manor’, “Here’s Dick” he said, now showing Jason a long rectangle labelled “Iceberg lounge’. Jason looked at this dot, his heart pounding.  
“We have to get there as quickly as we can” said Jason, urgency in his voice.  
“I'll drive” said Alfred, already heading for the exit. Jason followed, sparing a glance for the third dot in the middle of a plot of land labelled “Cemetery”.

Alfred drove quickly and accurately. He stayed within the speed limit, though this seemed like an impossibility. A few blocks down from the iceberg lounge, Jason prepared to jump out, but was again stopped by Alfred’s touch on his shoulder. “Please, please remember what I said.”  
Jason nodded and jumped out. He would think about the offer later, but for the moment, Dick was a more pressing matter.


End file.
